Teams in cap hell in the offseason

There are several teams who will be in a tough situation financially in the offseason, under a lot of pressure to unload salary due to luxury tax penalties. This could be an opportunity for Morey to swing in and do some damage, especially since most of these teams are playoff or even championship contenders who wouldn't dare blow things up in the middle of a run, but will be much more willing in the limbo between seasons.

Teams we haven't discussed a lot

Chicago

With the recent Derrick Rose contract and Omer Asik heading toward an extension Chicago is heading into an incredibly dire cap situation--well north of $70M. They're a huge market, but there are limits to how much even they can pay.

Carlos Boozer, $15M-$15M-$16M. I hate Boozer as much as anyone, and you'd have to pay me a lot to take back his contract. But at the same time, I have to admit he's still a good player. He's an upgrade on both ends over Scola. Maybe if Chicago was willing to include solid draft picks or get us an additional quality piece in a three-way trade, Morey would consider sending Scola over there for Boozer.

Luol Deng, $13M-$14M. I've long felt Deng was underrated, because he's such a versatile two-way player. He's had a down year, but he's still just 26. I don't see much place for him on the Rockets, though, except maybe if he comes packaged with Taj Gibson or some other quality asset brought in via a three-way.

Omer Asik, RFA. Asik is heading into restricted free agency, so Chicago may choose to just deal him and let someone else foot the bill. A lot of people like him, but I can't get away from how raw he is as a guy who is about to be age 26. Could be worth gambling on, though, so keep an eye on him.

New York

The Knicks will already be in the luxury tax before signing Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak to extensions. Those two players will likely put them pretty deep into the tax, but keep in mind that it's New York we're talking about here. It's hard to see a scenario where the Rockets, or anyone else, agree to take back the awful Stoudemire contract, and it's hard to see a scenario where they agree to move Melo (they'll more likely try to adapt their coaching around him), but keep an eye on those two anyway. Perhaps more likely to be moved for a serviceable player is...

Tyson Chandler, $13M-$13M-$14M. He's ridiculously, unbelievably efficient on offense this season, with a .726 TS%, although a lot of that is because he's a monster of an offensive rebounder and cleanup man who gets a lot of easy looks and makes the most of them. He's never going to be an important offensive player on a contender, but he's an athletic 7-footer who plays well on both ends and a big man like that is hard to find. If the Knicks would dump him for something like Sam Dalembert, you'd have to consider it. Is their tax situation dire enough for them to do that, though? Chandler is not part of the problem on the court in New York, and they have a giant market.

Atlanta

The Hawks are a touch over the salary cap next season with only six players under contract. They seem like a prime candidate to trade one of their big contracts for a few smaller ones, more due to their cap situation than due to the luxury tax, but still for salary reasons. In trade eligibility, the foremost among these big contracts is Josh Smith: He's in a contract year and already vocally wants out of Atlanta. Joe Johnson's contract is too big and too ugly to be moved, and Al Horford is too good of a player on too good of a contract for them to send out. But if they can move an expiring Smith in the offseason for a solid starting PF and cheap pieces to round out their bench, they'd have to at least consider it.

Josh Smith, $12M. Smith is still one of the best athletes among NBA power forwards, still blocks a lot of shots, still rebounds, and still uses his athleticism to score points--albeit with less efficiency than you'd like. He doesn't solve the Rockets' problems, but he would be an upgrade, especially if you can acquire him by sending out the cheaper Luis Scola in the deal, perhaps packaged with Chase Budinger and maybe a draft pick, saving Atlanta millions and fleshing out their skeleton roster.

Been there, done that

Los Angeles

We've already talked a lot about Pau Gasol, and he still remains a strong trade candidate if LA can get back an elite player. Or maybe if they get a verbal agreement with Deron Williams to sign in LA, they would send out Gasol to a team with the cap space to swallow his contract (wink, wink) in exchange for young assets and draft picks. Regardless, I don't need to discuss Gasol's strengths, weaknesses, or contract--we've been over it plenty of times already.

Orlando

Herp derp, Dwight Howard. We've already beat this dead horse thousands upon thousands of times at this year's deadline, so I'm not going to waste anymore breath on it. Suffice it to say, the Magic are well over the salary cap and could revisit trading Howard in the offseason or more likely at next year's deadline if he doesn't agree to an extension.

Draft Picks Are Nice

Washington

I figure the main attraction here will be Washington's top draft pick, not any specific player on their roster (though Nene is a remote possibility). As such, I won't discuss specific players here either. Suffice it to say, taking back Andre Blatche's poison pill contract and fortifying the Wizards for playoff contention--say, with Luis Scola and maybe Kevin Martin or others--could be enough to pry away that top three lottery pick of theirs.

New Orleans

New Orleans doesn't really fall into the category of having cap problems, but I thought they were worth a mention anyway because their problem is salary considerations and there are rumors that they want to move Emeka Okafor. Stern has been very hard to deal with and he's clearly running the show as a puppetmaster, but may come off his demands a bit on draft day; it'll be a bit easier for him to move Okafor then anyway.

Emeka Okafor, $12M-$13M-$14M. Unlike Blatche, Okafor is a legitimate player. He's a good defensive big man who blocks shots and grabs rebounds, not too dissimilar from Samuel Dalembert and his contract situation in Philadelphia before we picked him up. He'd be a useful but overpaid part of the team if we picked him up. The real prize, of course, would be the top 3 pick we'd demand in return for taking him back. I'm sure the Rockets would have to sweeten the pot, but perhaps it could be done.

No Chance (Probably)

Miami

How long can the Heat withstand this insanity? They're already at $79M for this season and staring at a $77M payroll next year with players going off the roster. That's about $20 million over the cap, in case you weren't aware. Still, their big three is generating so much national attention and making them so much money that it's hard to see them breaking it up anytime soon. That's why I won't sit here and discuss the mildly declining Chris Bosh with you. Keep half an eye on him, though--if Miami does decide they are tired of paying so much luxury tax, he'll obviously be the one to go.

 

Not for only salary relief, they'd have to be able to sell it to the fans. Salary relief would help get the deal done but other players and/or picks would have to be included.